Coast Guard Halts Search For Vessel Off Cape Hatteras

April 24, 1990

The Coast Guard halted a search on Monday for a boat reported early Sunday to be sinking about 80 miles off Cape Hatteras.

Ham radio operators in Belgium and Spain overheard a Mayday call that the vessel was flooding and those on board were preparing to abandon ship and get in to a small dinghy, Coast Guard officials said.

The search was stopped about 11:30 a.m. said Lt. jg. Nancy Goodridge of the Coast Guard's 5th District office in Portsmouth.

Goodridge said a C-130 aircraft and the Cutter Point Martin searched 560 square miles of Atlantic Ocean until midnight Sunday and resumed the search at dawn Monday. The search concentrated on an area within 10 miles of the shoreline.

A ham radio operator in the Netherlands told Coast Guard officials he heard the Mayday about 4 a.m. and immediately relayed it to the Netherlands Coast Guard, Goodridge said.

A ham radio operator in Antwerp, Belgium, also heard the Mayday, she said.

The Mayday identified Cape Hatteras and gave the name of the boat as Ocean, Goodridge said. The call sign was traced to a Spanish registry but the letters had not been issued yet.